


Good Boy

by andrasteshaircurlers



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 19:14:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7001776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrasteshaircurlers/pseuds/andrasteshaircurlers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Queen Torania comes back from finding the cure to the calling there is one she left behind who is not still waiting for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Boy

The pup in the great hall of Highever castle is a smart one. He can tell right away what the humans want. They want him to imprint on the male human pup standing here. They want him to bond with that human. But as he is placed on the floor, wiggling his feet a bit, the ground is so smooth! The puppy knows with mabari instinct that that human is not the one that needs him. He runs with a yip. Launching himself at the much smaller female human pup. The Toddler does not flinch at the bundle of fur sailing towards her instead her eyes fill with some emotion and she catches him snuggling him to herself though they are almost close in size.

He is a good boy.

The female human pup, Torania, Gives him his name. Chompers. And almost instantly he becomes her most trusted companion. Torania is a harsh child. An intense child. Often an Angry child. The softness, The tenderness some might be surprised to find she is capable of is shown only to him.

He is a good boy.

They train together, becoming good at fighting as a team. This is very important because Chompers knows that her own personal training with the other humans is not going so well. But of course she is working twice as hard anyway. He knows this because the few times she gets discouraged he is the one she tells. And so he does his best to show her how talented she is. Even if she cannot fight like they want her too she is skilled his human!

He is a good boy.

Chompers does not like Torania’s new friend. The boy from the village that follows her around looking at her as if she was some sort of goddess. Chompers does not like him at all. And then one day  when his human is not a pup anymore but not grown up either she is holding him, holding Chompers and sobbing. “I did it, I turned him into the Templars, I swore I wouldn’t… But blood magic! His parents! This is all my fault! If I could have loved him! If I could have loved him like he wanted! He wouldn’t have done this! Perhaps he wouldn’t have done this!” Chompers snuggles closer to her. Dillian never deserved any of Torania’s love. She falls asleep crying into his fur.

He is a good boy.

The day the castle burns Torania breaks. Even he cannot seem to cheer her up. She does not laugh anymore. She does not smile. Even her movements are subdued. Chomper tries everything and nothing seems to work. This has never happened to his human. What is he supposed to do?

Is he a good boy?

The new human Alistair draws him over and explains his plan. They will work together and make a silly situation to make his human laugh. Chompers was not sure what to think of this new human. He had no bad feeling but the last time a male human had shown any interest in being around his human things had gone bad. But now… Perhaps this human was Alright.

He is a good boy.

He likes this human a lot, he thinks as he brings the rings down the aisle. He likes messing with him even better. He is happy his human is happy. Life is good. And she got him a big tender meat bone made his favorite way for the party after the wedding.

He is a good boy.

His first batch of puppies makes him even happier.  Though in the end only one stays with them. The runt of the litter Barkspawn imprinted on his human’s human.

His human grins at that. He can tell she is very happy

They are good boys.

Torania Cousland Theirin threw the stick for her mabari to catch. The dog bounded after it, catching it happily. The queen’s hair blew in the Fereldan wind that invaded the courtyard “Good boy” She dropped to her knees as Chompers returned to her. “Good boy.” Then she sighed and fell on her rump before laying down on the ground. Torania bit her lip as she spread her arms and took a deep breath. “Chompers…. I’m going to be… I’m going to be leaving you behind” Her tongue stumbled over the words as if they were hard to get out. The dog lay beside her and let out a low wine. She rolled over onto her side to look at him absently petting his coat with one hand.

“I want you to stay and look after Alistair. How am I supposed to do this otherwise?” She took a deep breath willing her heart, her inner fears to be silent. “You don’t understand. Or perhaps you do. This is not like the normal short royal duty separations! I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I’m abandoning him!”  The last sentence was nearly hissed as her chest began heaving. Torania spoke softly now but with an emphaticness that mere volume itself could never convey. “I’m leaving him behind; I’m leaving him just like everyone else has. I have to do this. I can save us both. I can get pregnant! I can stop myself from going down in history as the woman who ended the Theirin dynasty and started the Fereldan civil wars again. But I’m leaving him. There is nothing I can do to make up for that. But it would help me feel better knowing you are by his side… and I know you are good! you can try to help when he needs it. You don’t degrade him or underestimate him. In short you can be the guardian to him you were to me. Please…?”

The mabari looked at her then gave an affirmative bark before nuzzling against it’s human. Torania wrapped her arms around Chompers and buried her face in his fur. “You are such a good boy. I love you. I’m so sorry. I’ll come back That I promise”

He will guard her human for her. He is a good boy

She knows. When he is not there by her husband’s side wining in concern because he can smell her covered burn scars before any one else can see them she knows. But she refuses to admit it.

Perhaps he is back in their private rooms. Perhaps Alistair is in such a hurry he didn’t think to mention she was back. That has to be it.

“Where is the grave” She finally asks him. It’s only been days since the accident. Since she pushed herself too far training. She looks up at her husband with tear stained eyes. Torania does not know if she will ever be able to walk on her own again. She is robbed of her fighting abilities because she pushed herself too far and she does not know if she will ever recover. Now, only now, when she is at her lowest. With Alistair still here beside her can she face the truth she has been avoiding ever since she returned. Her mabari died while she was gone. And she will never see him again.

Alistair hesitates only a fraction of a second. And only because she knows what she will ask next.

“We buried him by your family tree. in the garden.” He tells his wife softly. “I thought you and he would want that.

"Take me” she tells him, her eyes meeting his. Torania knows this was what made him hesitate but she needs to go to his grave. To talk to her hound one last time.

In the end she convinces him and Alistair lifts her gently from the bed. He takes her into the garden and to the tree.

The plant is not yet a large one. The Cousland family blade serves as a stake of sorts and is now only barley visible the tree having gown up around it. Besides the extra growth it is exactly as she left it. Her mother’s locket around one branch. A ring that belonged to her father around another.  And next to the tree is a grave. A dog’s grave. She is crying as they approach. “There is no writing on the stone.”

Alistair nods almost sheepishly. “I thought you would want to decide” He tells her. “You knew him best. I’m going to put you down by the stone do you want me to go or stay?”

The look she gives him tells him just how much his actions mean to her. And he sneaks in a kiss to her forehead.

“Can you stay?” She asks. “But not where you can hear. I think… I think I need to talk to him alone.”

Alistair nods and sets her down before making a quick retreat He will be here for his wife when she needs him.

Torania looks at the blank stone for a long moment. The queen of Ferelden swallows trying to find the right words. But the words don’t come. Torania has always been eloquent when she wants to be. But she can’t right now. She reaches out a hand and strokes the stone much like she would have Chompers  

"Good boy" The words come to her lips.

“You are a good boy.”


End file.
